Reason and Revolution: Hegel and the Rise of Social Theory is a 1941 book by the philosopher Herbert Marcuse, in which the author discusses the social theories of the philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx. Marcuse reinterprets Hegel, with the aim of demonstrating that Hegel's basic concepts are hostile to the tendencies that led to fascism.

The book has received praise as an important discussion of Hegel and Marx.

Contents

Marcuse discusses the social and political ideas of Hegel,[1] and attempts to show that "Hegel's basic concepts are hostile to the tendencies that have led into Fascist theory and practice."[2] Marcuse criticizes the thesis, propounded by Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse in The Metaphysical Theory of the State (1918), that Hegel provided an ideological preparation for German authoritarianism,[3] making the case that Hegel was a revolutionary.[4] Marcuse also discusses the philosophical basis of Marx's thought,[5] and provides an account of Marx's notion of labour.[6] In an appendix to the 1960 edition, Marcuse states that the "only major recent development in the interpretation of Hegel's philosophy is the postwar revival of Hegel studies in France." Marcuse credits the new French interpretation with showing clearly the "inner connection between the idealistic and materialistic dialectic". He provides a list of key works, including Alexandre Kojève's Introduction to the Reading of Hegel (1947).[7]

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